Iman al-Obeidi, the Libyan woman who claimed she was raped by Muammar Gaddafi's soldiers, has reportedly fled to Tunisia with the help of a defecting military officer. Obeidi, who drew worldwide attention when she burst into a Tripoli hotel to describe to foreign journalists her alleged ordeal at the hands of 15 men, has been given refuge in Tunis by western officials. Obeidi told CNN she had entered Tunisia with a refugee document and was considering her next move. She claimed her court case against the soldiers – who she said had seized her at a checkpoint near Tripoli – had barely progressed.

Women’s Action Forum expressed deep regret and disappointment at the Supreme Courts decision to acquit five out of six accused in the Mukhtar Mai case. Mukhtaran Mai had filed appeals against the order of the LHC, Multan Bench, commuting the sentence of one accused and acquitting the abettors involved in gang-raping Mukhtaran Mai on June 22, 2002.

On Wednesday, Eman Al-Obeidi, the woman who attempted to tell foreign journalists of her abuse and rape by regime forces but was taken away by security, appeared on camera in a CNN interview. The interview was arranged by Saadi Qaddafi, the son of the Libyan leader, but transmission was held up for 18 hours by Libyan officials who wanted to review the tape. The video --- unaltered, according to CNN --- was finally transmitted yesterday afternoon.

The Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) international solidarity network joins other human rights organizations and civil society groups calling for the Libyan authorities to immediately release 29 year-old lawyer and defender of women’s human rights, Iman Al-Obeidi. We also demand that those who have allegedly subjected her to a violent sexual assault, and false imprisonment, be brought to trial following a thorough and independent investigation. On Saturday 26 March, Al-Obeidi approached a group of foreign reporters in a hotel in Tripoli, and in a state of considerable distress, she told them she had been repeatedly raped by Muammar Gaddafi’s militiamen. In an effort to silence her and in front of rolling television cameras Al-Obeidi was attacked and dragged away by government officials. Al-Obeidi is now facing criminal charges herself, according to a government spokesman. Her parents say their daughter is being held hostage at the Libyan leader's compound in Tripoli.